for our kids to learn and our teachers to teach. The event itself was fantastic with our kindergarten students kicking off the show, speeches by our friends and supports including Mayor Michael Nutter (who made a passionate speech about the importance of education) and Andre Agassi (whose charter school facilities fund helped make our building possible), and then our 1st graders closing out the program with an original version of Lupe Fiasco’s “The Show Goes On” (watch it here). Our new cafeteria was packed with over 200 friends, families, and supporters, including at least 120 KPEA family members (of our 150 kids).
The event was a huge success and I wanted to (cliché alert) put the day in perspective for my staff so I sent them an email that night that included the following two ideas that I’ve edited slightly here:
I made this point when I spoke before the kindergarten students performed, but it’s really important so I want to make sure I say it in writing. The reason why it’s so exciting to have such a nice building is not because it makes us better teachers or makes our kids any smarter. KIPP schools have been located in church basements, old trailers, just barely modified commercial spaces, and substandard district buildings to name a just a few not-ideal locations for great schools. And teachers have taught well, kids have learned, and families have been happy. So we don’t “need” a nice building. But that doesn’t mean that our students, their families, and you all don’t deserve to have the same caliber of facilities as students in the suburbs. I sincerely believe you all are the best teachers in Philadelphia, our students’ families are the most dedicated supporters of their students around, and our kids are the most brilliant and talented kids in this city and our building should be just wonderful as you are.
Finally, this is a version of what I said to the first graders when I met with them at the end of the day. To my mind, the most powerful part of this event was seeing our multi-purpose room jam-packed with people from all walks of life and from all over the country who all came to support us. Our job is hard and it can sometimes feel like we’re trying to do this alone. But we’re not. From a tennis great, to a president of a major bank, to so many of our students’ families, to local politicians, to the KIPP Foundation, to our board, to other community leaders in Philadelphia, and many others, we have friends and supporters all over; all who love our kids and are committed to doing what they can to help them climb the mountain to college. I’m not sure you could find a more diverse group of people anywhere in America today and they were united around us and our students. And because of your great work, everyone who came today is even more inspired to help us help our students and that’s pretty cool.
Tuesday was a great day and a fun celebration but what makes KIPP great is that 5 minutes after the first graders finished performing, they were back in class working hard adding details to a writing piece.
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